Means for positioning slide fasteners in articles of manufacture



June 1960 e. H. BINGHAM, JR ,0

MEANS FOR POSITIONING SLIDE FASTENERS IN ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE Filed April 14, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 6:250? 15 jazzy/20 711,:

June 14, 1960 s. H. BINGHAM, JR 2,940,095

mms FOR POSITIONING SLIDE F mums m ARTICLES OF MANUFACT Filed April 14, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MEANS FOR POSITIONING SLIDE FASTENERS 1N ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE George H. Bingham, In, Westminster, Md., assignor to Cambridge Rubber Company, Taneytown, Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed Apr. 14, 1958, Ser. No. 728,200

4 Claims. (CI. 12--53.5)

This invention pertains to the manufactures of waterproof footwear, in particular footwear in whrch the waterproofing medium is a synthetic plastic, and relates more especially to apparatus for applying pressure to certain areas of such as an article, hereafter referred to for convenience as a boot, particularly after the plastic comprised in the boot has been completely fused. The plastic customarily employed in footwear manufacture is unlike rubber in respect to the fact that rubber, when once fully vulcanized, does not again become moldable or tacky by the mere application of heat (at temperatures below such as would cause a permanent change in the character of the material). On the other hand, the plastic material, after fusion or curing to the extent that it is no longer plastic or tacky, may, by the application of heat be restored to a plastic or moldable condition without change in character, chemical structure or permanent injury. Thus, it is possible, if desired, to make plastic boots by mass production methods such that the resultant boots may be termed stoc articles, all alike, but which lack certain features of ornament, trim or the like desirable in a marketable boot. Such stock boots may be placed in storage and then, when demand arises for a boot having certain specified external ornamental patterns, or trim (for instancean internal reinforcing tape, slide fastener or the like), subjecting the boot to localized heat such that it becomes plastic or tacky at the desired area. then be molded to a desired pattern at such area, or have adhered to it desired parts or elements either at the interior or exterior of the boot, thus providing a commercial article of the desired type. This cuts cost of production and expedites the filling of orders for boots embodying specific desired features. 7

The present invention concerns apparatus for use in the localized treatment of such a stock boot by the ap-- plication of heat and pressure. Incidentally, the same apparatus is of utility, in some instances at least, in the repair of boots which, upon inspection after the completion of the molding process, show irregularities or imperfections. One object of the invention is to provide simple, durable and easily operable means for locally heating a desired area of a plastic boot, and for applying pressure to such heated area. A further object is to provide apparatus useful in securing textile tape, for example the tapes of a slide fastener, to the interior of a plastic boot which has already been completely fused. A further object is to provide apparatus useful in securing the tapes of a slide fastener to the interior of a completely fused boot either at the curved forepart of the boot upper or to the substantially straight side portion of the boot upper. A further object is to provide apparatus for simultaneously applying heat and pressure to a selected area of the plastic boot upper. A further object is to provide apparatus for securing the tapes of a gusset-type slide fastener to the interior of a completely fused boot upper. A further object is to provide apparatus for imparting to the exterior surface of a com- The exterior surface of the boot may pletely fused boot upper, an ornamental or other desired I pattern. A furtherobject is to provide means whereby a plastic material, such as is employed in making boot or shoe uppers, may be madepervious to air and moisture, thus overcoming one of the objections heretofore made to the use of plastic or similar materials in shoes. A further object is to provide apparatus useful in the repair of molded and fused boots, which upon inspection are: A further object is tov provide apparatus useful in locally heating and applying pressure to a completely fused plastic boot and which found to have imperfections.

is so devised as to expedite the treatment of boots by a method in which such local heating and pressure is required. Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following more detailed description and'by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a benchtype machine embodying the present invention, showing a the parts in readiness for the reception of a boot to whose front portion a slide fastener is to be applied;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. l, but showing a boot in position in the machine and with the parts arranged for simultaneously applying heat and pressure to the front portion of the boot upper;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section, to larger scale than Fig. 4 and on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, illustrating the operation of securing a gusset-type slide fastener to the front portion of the boot upper; 1

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic transverse section through the boot upper, showing such a gusset-type slide fastener as having been secured to the interior of the boot upper;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic plan view (to small scale) of a machine embodying four units such as that disclosed in Fig. 1, the several units being mounted upon a rotatable support whereby, while one boot is undergoing the heating and pressing operation, another boot may be arranged in readiness to receive heat and pressure;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portable appliance embodying the same general principles as the device of Fig. l, but which is of particular utilityfor repair work;

Fig. 9 is an elevation showing the device of Fig. 8 as seen from the left-hand side of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation showing the appliance of Fig. 8 as used in repairing a boot;

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a boot showing, merely by way of example, an element of surface ornamentation on the exterior of the boot upper;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary diagrammatic side elevation of a hand appliance such as may be employed for the production of such an element of ornamentation as shown in Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary elevation showing that jaw of the appliance of Fig. 12 which is designed to form the oranament of Fig. 11;

Fig. 14 is a side elevation showing a jaw, similar that of Fig. 13, but designed to form perforations in the material of the boot; and,

Fig. 15 is a side elevation of a movable jaw, like the spaced, horizontahparallel arms 21 and 22 which,

shown in Fig. 1, are integrally joined attheir left-hand ends to the normally vertical base member 23. As shown Patented June, 14, 1960 wherein there is provided a rotary carrier T, mounted to turn about a pivotal axis indicated at P, and having mounted upon it, as here shown at 90 apart, a plurality of frames 20, 20", 20, and 20, each like the frame 20 of Fig. 1. The worker may be stationed as indicated at the position W where the frame 20 is readily accessible for actuation in the same way as above-described with respect to the frame 20, and having clamped a shoe upper between the movable and fixed jaws, the carrier T is then turned a quarter revolution, bringing the next frame 20* into operative relation to the working station W. The carrier is provided with appropriate locking means, for example a latch L (Fig. 7) engageable with any selected one of a plurality of circumferentially spaced sockets in the periphery of the carrier. The operator will then place a boot between the jaws of the frame 20 and again turn the carrier T a quarter turn and so on until eventually the frame 20 will again arrive at the working station W, at which time the operator may remove the completed boot from between the jaws and insert another boot. Thus, with this arrangement ample time is given for the fusing operation by which the tapes of the fastener are joined to the boot upper, and thus usefully conserving the workers time.

As illustrated in Fig. 5, the surface S of the fixed jaw is desirably raised somewhat above the adjacent sur-.

face of the jaw 27 so as to keep the upper U of the boot away from the hot jaw,'except at a relatively narrow area at which the fastener is to be attached. Further, in order to protect the upper from the heat of the jaw, the jaw may have a jacket N of heat-insulating material covering it at all sides except at the surface 'S. Desirably, the fixed jaw has a slot 42 extending through it from one surface S to the opposite surface S, the width of this slot slightly exceeding the width of the united series of metallic fastener elements, so that, when the parts are placed under pressure, the metallic fastener elements will be free to retreat downwardly into this slot, so that they will not interfere with the uniform application of pressure to the tapes of the fastener. This slot also provides a space to receive the gusset portion G of a gusset-type slide fastener during the fusing operation, it being noted, as shown in Figs. and 6, that the margins of the gusset G are secured to the opposite tapes respectively of the slide fastener.

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10, there is shown an appliance comprising a heated jaw which may be employed, for example, for securing a slide fastened to the innner surface of a boot upper while the latter is within the mold M in which it was formed. It may be assumed, for example, that the boot upper within the mold M- has been cured to a stage such that mere pressure is not suflicient permanently to adhere the tapes of a slide fastener to the plastic of the upper. The appliance shown in Figs. 8, 9 and comprises jaw members 43 and 44 pivotally connected at 45 and provided with handles 46 and 47, respectively, whereby the jaws may be moved away from each other, the jaws being normally urged toward each other by a spring 48. The jaw 43 carries a member 27 having a surface 28 which may be of substantially the same shape as the surface 28 of the fixed jaw 27 of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, the surface 28* being of a contour such as to conform to that of the inner surface of the boot upper at the forepart of the latter. This member 27 may be provided, if desired, with prongs or other means (not shown) for temporarilyattaching the tapes of a slide fastener thereto. The other jaw 44 is provided with a pad 48 designed to contact the outer surface of the mold M. The part 27 is provided with an internal chamber which receives a heating element E (Fig. 8) by which the part 27 may be heated to any desired temperature. Preferably, the part 27 is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 42 (Fig. 9) for the same purpose as the slot 42 shown in Fig. 5. This appliance is pot-table and may be employed for repairing boots which are found to be imperfect in respect to the fact that the tapes of the slide fastener have not been secured properly to the upper in a previous operation,

or it may be employed in attaching a slide fastener to a boot upper whether the latter be within or out of the mold M.

Desirably, the pad 48 is of a shape such that the pressure which it applies is distributed over a substantial area so that the appliance may be used for repairing or performing other operations upon the upper of a boot which is not within the mold.

Figs. 11 to 15, inclusive, illustrate certain other capabilities of the type of apparatus herein disclosed. Fig. 11 shows the upper U of a plastic boot as provided at one side with an ornament which may, for example,

be a depression of desired ornamental shape in the outer surface of the boot. For providing the boot with such an element of ornament, an appliance similar to that shown in Figs, 9 and 10 maybe provided except'for a modified arrangement of its jaws. Such an appliance is shown in Fig. 12 as having the 'pad 48 mounted'on jaw 43 which is designed to contact the inner surface of the boot top and a pad 27" mounted on jaw 44 which is designed to contact the outer surface of the boot top. This pad 27 is provided, on that face which engages the outer surface of a boot top, with a projecting boss 50- of the contour of the desired ornamental element 50 shown in Fig. 11. The pad 27" is also provided with an internal cavity which receives a heating element E. r

In the use of this device, the jaws 43 and 44 are separated and slipped down over the upper portion of the boot upper and then permitted to close upon the upper, thus causing the boss 50 to press against the outer surface of the upper. The heat of the jaw softens the material of the upper sufiiciently so that the boss 50 embeds itself in the material, the parts being held in this position until the material of the upper has become stabilized, that is to say, until it has become stressed beyond its elastic limit so that when the device is removed from the upper, the latter permanently retains the impression 50 made by the boss 50*.

In Fig. 14, there is shown a modification 27' of the pad 27" which, instead of the single projecting boss 50*, has

. a plurality of needle points 50 By the use of such a device, it is possible to form permanent perforations extending completely through the boot upper which will not close when the device is removed from the upper. It is obvious that the shape of the boss 50 in Fig. 13 and the shape and arrangement of the needle points 59 in Fig. 14 are merely by way of illustration and in no sense limiting as to the shape of ornamentation or the number or kind of perforation which may be obtained by the use of this or equivalent device.

The device shown in Fig. 14 is by way of exemplification of means whereby plastic material comprised in, or which is to form a portion of a shoe, may be made pervious to moisture and air. Attempts to provide pores in rubber so as to make it more acceptable for use in footwear have not been successful. If rubber, whether partially or fully vulcanized, be penetrated by a needle or similar sharp pointed element, the resultant opening closes immediately the needle is withdrawn, and the same is true of plastic material, if the puncture is made by the use of a cold needle. If, instead of using a needle, a punch is employed which actually removes some of the material so as to leave a permanent opening, a very substantial weakening of the material results. Leather, rubber or plastic, so perforated and forming an article of wearing apparel, quickly loses its shape during use; and, if such material is to be incorporated in a shoe upper where it is subjected to an operation such as lasting during shoe manufacture, it stretches so much as to make the material, thus perforated, wholly impractical for the purpose.

In accordance with the present invention wherein a effects:

. synthetic plastic is; penetrated bye heated-element, such ew s;

' prising a. rigid frainersuppori asca needleg the plastic; even though greviouslyf fully cured; flows.in re sgonse; togthesheatand/so thatit is penetratedi hy-the-.--needle without loss ofsany of the: material.

or-strength I f the needle remainsin the material mar the latter has taken a permanent set, that is to say, has 7 again: been fused, the; opening} resultantqfrom the penetude of heated needles or simi rehalrp-pointedelements toma'ke shoe upper material of plastichaqling all ofthe porosity ofanatural leather butswithputjoss of strength,

' 'so: thanthemateriah sci-prepared, may; heerrrployedin 'maldngxan articlewof footwear involving'a conventional lasting operetion; "Obviously; theasame means and pro- V cedure maybe employedsinprepa-ring previous: sh eet plas-,

tic for use in making articles other. than footwear.

In -Fig. ;:these1is illustrated a jest/"30?? similar to -the 7 jaw Sflof- Fig; 1 :but'which; in this instance, would desirably'he ofm'etalhavin'g arigid surface'32 'opposed to thezsurface; 28, (Fig; 1) of thefixed jawl'i, and this surface v32*. would carry projecting; elements such as face;oftheaupperioiftheiboot.to b,e,p1joc ,sed f v ofaf contour. complementalrto the.Work Q 10 extending work-contacting, surface.

imetallic materialfmounted' upon-said surface of h stationary substantial 7 ing material haying a bayi I electricaL heating; unit,@ theejaw. liayi a a .iialc. our. plementaL to that of, a selected;- portio of th j face f the-stationaryjammeanspivot lye 1" from thesfixedjaw, a. paclnoji resiliently yieldable,"

. able jawlandi whichis designedto. contact t indicated" at Siliyandill which, when" pressed into the.

V V materialioffthebootugper, would; imparttheretota de sirable surface-configuration, for example of 1 ornamental character, or provide perforations extending through the. V

'materialruftheupper all? as desired, it being understood that a jaw: such asth'crjaw iifi nf fig. 1,5'rnight be. sub; stituted forftheijaw ofn-Fig; Lfonohtaining -such special 'Asrrespectsthe devices illustrated in Figs; 13. to 15,

for; making. idesignsrupon other materials; than'the plastic of about uppen for instance; leather or fabric or-combinations of: plastic and-rubber, andth-ah by the use of a hand implement such as th'at'sho wn in Fig; 12, it is possible to: apply ornament or form perforations in fully assernhleda'nd otherwise-finished articles without en1-- V ploying.heavy machinery-or moldsi'sueh as have 'custo I man'ly been thought necessaey for such purposes. It is 'furthernoted .thatjthe'd'evices; of Figs. 13=to 15, inclusive, operate .hy .fus'ing,'.displacing and curing the material-in. localized. areas. without affecting the*condition of-= the materialzof the'hoot' upper outside of of these local areas;

While :c'ertairr. desirable embodimentsof the invention have herein heenldisclosed by way of examp 1e;.it.-is .to he understood that-the inventiontis. broadly inclusive of any andi'allinmdificationsfalling within the scope ofthe appended claims. V

v iclaimr ..1. Apparatus for pressure to a plastic: hoot. Hyper; said apparatus comlusezin. applying localized heat L-armand pivotallyrconnected. at one end tothejbase. incur-T fac'elofthe boot upper,:.a cam operable ,tofo rce them h}. able jaw; toward thenormally stationary. jaw therehytp clam-p. thehoot upper between theljaws,

.ot a shape such that when e ertingthem ximun pres sureit is locked. in position by. theate and means for moving thQca-mQ.

frame comprisesan armtwhichfis substantially painter to the normally. fixed jaw, and ahasemembenli erpem dicular to said arm, the normal stationary jaw. heingfiiied atone end to said hasemem ber, thermovahlejaw be g' interposed 'hetweenfthe. statiQnary law and saidi.

disposed between thosememhe'rs of. the framewhich con-f stitute said rigidf arm, and wherein. the, means-iorjmoving the cam comprlsesa handle vfixedto the cam ;and which projects outwardly from. betweensaid frameqmembers.

4. Apparatus accordingrto. claim '1, wherein. thefitar. tionary jaw extends outwardly beyond saidjhasemem her and is shaped tocqnstitutea pintle, ahea r ing in which said pintle maylturn thereby to. permit ,-th e frame,

to be turned ahouttheaxis of.-thenpi1,1tle -sojasj o..gidjusi-v the JEWS to convenient position for processing. th bQQf,

and means for clampingthe 'pintle in radjust epl'position.

References Cited in the fileiofithi s patent NITED --sr TEs -PATENTS Apr- 

